Alonso admits Caicedo was rushed back too soon after Chelsea's 2-1 loss at Arsenal

Xabi Alonso has admitted he made an error of judgement by rushing Moisés Caicedo back from injury, after the Ecuadorian midfielder was again sidelined as Chelsea lost 2-1 to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Morgan Rogers gave Chelsea an early lead, but Arsenal overturned it through Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard to hand Alonso his first defeat since taking charge of the club. Caicedo had missed the opening-day win over Fulham before making a 14-minute substitute appearance against Brighton last week — a decision Alonso now regrets.

“Probably, last week, we took him too early and I don’t want to make the same mistake again,” the Chelsea manager said in his post-match press conference. “It is not longer term but it’s about assessing the risk.”

Asked directly about the absentee, Alonso was guarded. “It’s easy after defeats to talk about the players that you are missing. I’m not going to go there — I am happy with the players that we have. For sure all the managers need to deal with injuries, with suspensions.”

He did, however, acknowledge how much Caicedo and fellow absentee Levi Colwill are missed. “We need them because they are top players and with them we are a better team,” he said.

Despite the result, Alonso was broadly satisfied with how his side approached the game, insisting Chelsea were not passive. “We wanted to be active, we wanted to be protagonists in the pressing — sometimes to go higher, sometimes lower, to have good possessions. We have done many right things.”

The Spaniard framed the defeat as part of a learning curve for a squad still early in a new era. “This is game three for us of this new start, this new phase that we are starting with Chelsea. But I’m happy with the spirit and the attitude from the players. They have given everything, they have tried and they fought really hard.”

Chelsea face a swift return to action when they host Leeds United in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening.